The Allure of Divine Power
Being a god is a powerful fantasy, something many of us have imagined at some point in our lives. To hold the power to control the weather and the world’s environments, building entire cities and civilizations from the dust, and then, perhaps, with one fell swoop, destroying them all again… if you are that way inclined.
The world of gaming has been giving you these divine powers for years, with the SimCity games famously casting you as an omniscient mayor, or other titles placing you as an all-powerful deity, viewing from above the world you have created.
The first Reus game, which came out many a year back, was developed by a small Dutch team and created a unique 2D take on this genre, a game that was loved and lauded by critics. Now, here is the sequel – Reus 2 – and the business of making worlds is the order of the day once again.
Initial Friction
From the very start, I must admit that Reus 2 does confuse a bit. It hasn’t got the longest or most detailed tutorial before it throws you straight into the deep end of its complex systems. It also feels… fine… on a controller, but the adaptation from its native PC to the Xbox console isn’t as smooth or intuitive as other management games in this marketplace. You can feel the mouse-and-keyboard origins in its cursor movements and menu navigation.
BUT, and this is a very important ‘but’, don’t let any of this initial friction get you down. Because once you are truly into the game, once you crest that initial learning curve and are playing with ease, the experience truly kicks in. I had a wonderful, relaxing time.
From Planet to Pantheon
The sequel immediately broadens the scope: you now have a whole solar system to play with, allowing you to make many different worlds.
You first choose your planet and then decide on the primary focus for the population you are about to nurture. This could be a focus on technology, or perhaps on food production, or even on accumulating wealth. Crucially, you also have to choose three titans who will rule over that world, either with a benevolent, life-giving energy or with a fist of iron. There are a variety of these giant beings to choose from, ranging from a plant-based titan, to a more sea-focused one who governs the oceans.
Emergent Narratives
Then, the humans arrive on this barren, lifeless world, and it’s up to you and your chosen titans to create the perfect biomes for them to flourish. So, for example, you could first of all terraform some empty spaces into lush, teeming rainforests. The humans can then build a city to settle in. From that point, it’s all about being able to synergise with the biomes, balancing them to create harmony and allow the civilisations to grow. But that’s the hard part, and in the same breath, it’s the most interesting bit about the gameplay. Your titans then help the humans by placing specific animals or minerals into these areas.
The story, in Reus 2, isn’t a pre-written script but rather an emergent narrative of how the planet and its people progress under your watch. You see, as the humans grow their worlds and their societies become more complex, different, and often darker, elements come into play, such as societal greed or the sudden outbreak of war between fledgling nations. It’s up to you and your titans to observe and decide how this all plays out.
You have specific goals and eras of human development to complete, and achieving them is all about placing the right environments next to each other, carefully managing your resources to see how they combine, rather than destroy each other.
The Pause Button of Peace
Now, me explaining how this game works, in writing is hard, and you might be thinking, “What is going on?” But the gameplay itself, once you are in it, is surprisingly relaxing. You are gently guided through what you need to do and what decisions you need to make.
A crucial feature is the timer at the top of the screen; you can pause this at any time, stopping the real-world clock to give you a moment to breathe, make considered decisions, and plan your next move. This turns what could be a stressful, plate-spinning-style game into a thoughtful, strategic one. It’s a great, relaxing god game, the kind that will make you sink hundreds of hours into it if you let it.
The joy comes from switching between the different worlds you have built, trying different titans, different biomes, and discovering all the different ways to make your humans live their best lives. This is always rewarding, and the sheer complexity of options and potential outcomes is where the real fun lies, showcasing just how clever the developers are.
There are also fantastic options at the beginning to make your experience as easy and relaxing as you want, or as hardcore and challenging as you need.
The Titan’s Grand Design
The visuals of the game have an amazing 2D design to them. We see the unique culture of the world we are inhabiting reflected in the architecture, with the three titans physically looming over the space, their grand designs establishing their power. As the barren world is inhabited, it’s genuinely great to see the land transform, watching your cities and biospheres spring up and grow from nothing. The titan design itself is excellent, as is the way they are animated and how they interact with the world.
My only main criticism here, and it’s a significant one, is that the text boxes can feel very small. The font, at times, is tiny and genuinely hard to read.
A Gentle God Sim
The big takeaway for Reus 2 is this: don’t give up on it in the beginning. It might feel overwhelming at first, what with the sheer number of options and the short, hands-off tutorial. But it is so worth carrying on, because this is a gentle and amazing god sim game.
I enjoyed trying different combinations of worlds and titans, finding all the different possibilities that could occur, and seeing what strategies work and what doesn’t. So, if you feel a bit down with what’s going on in our own world at this moment in time, why don’t you try to create your own, better one, with Reus 2?
Important Links
Buy Reus 2 from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/reus-2/9mv5m1ddng4w
